Soldiering on
by Mharding87
Summary: Harry joins the army. But issues back home will cause him to return to try to help makes things right again. Includes, villains, romance, drama, army house elves and more. See authors notes inside for more...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** **So I just wanted to share this. I don't have a full plot laid out yet, but I do have at least half. I have already started on the next chapter. But before I get too far into it, I'd like to know if this is something people would be interested in reading.**

 **The plot will be Harry, with military training. It will include a villain, some action, romance, a pairing. I'm leaning towards Harry/Hermione.**

 **So if this is something you'd like me to continue, please let me know and I'll get a move on to get it finished.**

 **Chapter 1**

The large building was noisy. There were people chattering all over, lounging on the benches and chairs. People camped out on the floor, sleeping on their coats, backpacks used as pillows. Kids running around, and babies crying. It was loud, and chaotic, yet it all made some sense. There was a purpose to it. There were people excitedly talking about the new adventures they would be going on. The places they would see and the memories they would make.

One lone young man was sitting one a four person bench. Staring gloomily into space. Not really paying attention to his surroundings. He was not the tallest young man. Average height. Only sleightly thicker shoulders and arms then normal. Wiry looking, almost like a gymnast. Not one of those thin floor gymnasts, more like one of the ones who can do handstands on the rings. Amongst all the excited chatter, he was the sole long face. There was a dullness to his green eyes. Those eyes had a look about them, almost as if they should be able to look right into your soul. But today, they were blank. His name was Harry Potter.

And today was not his best day.

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Harry was blindly staring into space. Thinking about absolutely nothing. He had stopped thinking a while ago. His thinking inevitably led his mind back onto what he had witnessed mere hours ago. And he did not want to think about that. He did not think his heart could break any more than it already had.

His silent stare into the backrest of the seat in front of him was interrupted by the 'thud' sound of a heavy duffel bag being placed on the floor near his feet and someone sitting down carefully next to him. Blinking his eyes a few times to regain some coherent thought, he glanced up into the crowd, and upon realizing what had drawn his attention, he turned his head to the left and spotted the older gentleman sitting beside him. Looking at his face, you would think he was just a regular older English gentleman. Short and stocky. Dark hair, with shades of grey making their appearance. A trim, neat moustache. But what really drew the attention was the uniform. Harry hadn't seen many people in uniform and had trouble recognizing this one. The only distinguishing factor was the patch on his left shoulder, showing a wing and a dagger, the motto 'Who dares, wins' below that and the epaulettes showing the man's rank. Not that he knew what that rank was. After his brief examination Harry tried to turn back to his staring at the chair in front of him, before the man's voice drew his attention back.

"You don't seem to be very excited about going to Paris."

It took Harry a few seconds to realize the man was talking to him, before he could reply.

"I'm not very excited to be going." Harry could hear the roughness in his voice.

With a glance at the young man next to him, the soldier realized the problem immediately. He had seen enough of his men go through the same thing before to see the signs. The slumped shoulders. Tired, emotionless eyes. Raw voice. Yes, he had seen this all before.

"It's never easy is it? Would you like to talk about it? That bar over there has some good scotch."

Harry just took another expressionless look at the man, wondering if the man really knew what he was going through. He was sure the soldier didn't, but not having been brought around alcohol and drinking, except for Aunt Marge of course, he had never really tried drinking. But he had of course heard how drinking helped in these kinds of cases. With another slow look around at all the excited chatter going on around them, Harry thought a scotch sounded like a good idea. With a grunt, and a nod toward the nearby O'Reilleys Bar next to their gate, Harry led the way towards the bar counter, not waiting or checking if the Soldier was following him. He found two empty stools near the end of the bar and sat down on one. The soldier calmly took the stool next to him and got the bartenders attention by raising two fingers and a short point to the bottle standing along on the top shelf. With a glance at the soldier and the bottle, the bartender gave a short nod and got to work pouring the two glasses.

Harry stared down into the glass of golden liquid, turning the glass between his fingers, this way and that, causing the liquid to roll up against the sides of the glass like waves crashing. With a deep sigh, he lifted it, and poured it down his throat. The burning sensation made his eyes water, but he held the cough that wanted to burst out his lips in, by pure force of will.

"I've seen that look on your face before. Many times. Emotionless eyes. Slumped shoulders. Tight jaw. I know what you're going through. Many of my men have gone through the same thing."

Harry just glanced at the man sitting next to him. Not saying anything for a few minutes, before offering his first contribution to the conversation. "What men are you talking about?"

With a nod of acknowledgment for the bartender who refilled both glasses, the man replied:

"I am Sergeant Major Mike Donalds. I am a recruitment officer for the Special Air Services. When I have recruited men, they are mine for 5 weeks of their training, and I become responsible for them after they qualify. I have seen many soldiers who have gone through exactly what you're going through. Nothing you can tell me, would be new. I've heard it all."

"What is it you think I'm going through? You don't know me!" Harry interrupted as he glared at Mike.

After a sigh, the older man glanced at Harry again. His eyes showing a painful wisdom in them.

"You have the look of one who's been betrayed, who's been hurt and your heart torn to shreds. You have the look of a man who has reached rock bottom. You look like a man running away. The men I recruit and train spend many weeks away from home. Away from girlfriends and wives. Their families. More than one has come back from home-leave with that same look in their eyes. Wives and girlfriends are not always as faithful as they should be."

With another glance to the young man seated beside him, taking note that he was still listening, Mike asked again.

"Why don't you tell me what happened."

Harry hadn't wanted to share anything, it was all so fresh. He could still feel the pain in his heart. The tears behind his eyes that he was desperate to let go. After draining his second glass of liquid courage, he took a deep breath and started to explain…

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 _24hrs ago…_

"Come on you lot. We need to get going or we won't have enough time to set up!"

Molly Weasley was an expert at organizing her family. She had been doing it for many years, yet for the life of her she never could get them to do anything on time. It was one of her greatest peaves.

Right as she was about to gather the boys one last time, the floo flashed green and emitted the red-haired patriarch of the family, Arthur Weasley.

"Hello molly dear. Sorry I'm late. Had to make a quick stop on the way home. Had to deal with another incident in London." After a hug and kiss on the cheek Molly had a quick look out the window to see how far George and Ron were with the boxes of decorations they had hidden in the shed.

"George and Ron are almost back with the decorations Harry bought. Hermione should be here any minute then we can leave."

Arthur was sitting down with a glass of pumpkin juice as he nodded to his wife that he was paying attention.

"Molly dear, have you heard from Ginny? Harry went to a lot of effort getting her to believe he'd be away tonight for training so he could surprise her with the anniversary dinner."

This was a topic that set Molly off to gushing.

"Oh Arthur, I'm so excited. Ginny did tell me she would be at training with the Chudley Cannons tonight. She has to do all those additional practices before they will allow her to start for them. I can't believe Harry and Ginny have been going out for two years already. Do you think he will propose? Harry has gone through a lot of effort arranging everything for tonight?" She was positively vibrating with the idea of Ginny finally marrying Harry Potter, the-boy-who-conquered.

"Well, he did ask for our permission to ask her, so I'm sure it's only a matter of time. Whether it will be tonight or not, I have no idea."

Arthur was being diplomatic as ever. If he was honest he would love to call Harry his son-in-law, however he had wondered how they had worked as well as they had. Arthur was very observant, and had a lot of life experience. He knew that Ginny was exactly like Molly was when she was Ginny's age, an he didn't see that the assertive, hot-headed woman, was the type of person he could have imagined for Harry. He knew how much Ginny loved the fame and the spotlight, and all the Balls and events that came with dating Harry Potter, but he also knew how much Harry hated that same fame himself. He had seen the disinterest in Harrys face during the previous Remembrance Ball held in May. After the short discussion they had there, Arthur knew that Harry was only there because Ginny had guilt tripped him into it.

Arthurs musing was interrupted by the green flash of the fireplace as Hermione stepped out at the same time that George and Ron finally made it back into the house with the decorations. After a round of greetings from everyone, they prepared to leave en masse to Potter Place, the three story duplex Harry was renting in London.

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Ginny was moaning as she felt his hands rubbing up her legs to her sides, she felt the thrill of pleasure as she felt his tongue on her neck as they grunted together, their sweaty bodies rubbing and grinding together. Her mind was numb as he made her reach levels of pleasure.

She was surprised how much pleasure she could handle right at the moment, as they had been at it for most of the day already. It had started in the bedroom, when he came over, early from work, which was a surprise for her, then moved into the shower, and then the dining room where they were now. The food that was on the table long forgotten.

She should have been at the training with the Cannons, but decided to skip it today. After all it was her anniversary and she felt she deserved some love and affection today of all days. The Cannons would understand. It didn't occur to her that she had only even been drafted, albeit with a very tight training schedule due to the influence of Harry Potter, after every other team had turned her down for not being good enough for Pro level she would take what she could get for now. Once she was married, she could buy the team if she desired. Harry had always been overly generous with his money, but she hadn't wanted to become too dependent on that until they had officially married.

She had just started to fall over into pure bliss, when a sound at the other end of the dining room pulled her attention.

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Hermione was the last person out of the floo into Harry place, where she crashed right into the back of Ron who was still standing in front of where she had just walked out.

"Oomph, Sorry Ron, Why are you standing blocking the fireplace." As she rubbed her chest where she had walked into Ron's elbow she noticed the sound of shouting, and all the Weasleys still standing around the exit of the Floo.

"What happened? Why is everyone shouting?" she asked as she made her way around Ron, and then George to see what was going on. It was as she got next to Arthur that she saw that it was Mrs. Weasley and Ginny shouting at each other. A very naked Ginny, hiding behind a very naked… not Harry Potter. She blushed to the roots of her hair as she took in the site of Ginny Weasley standing with her hands on her hips shouting across the room at Mrs. Weasley who was also standing in an identical pose shouting right back. She didn't immediately recognize the man standing trying to hide is much larger, naked body behind the still small and petite form of Ginny, but after a second longer look she recognized him. Cormac McLaggen. It took a few more seconds before she could make sense of the words they were shouting about.

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As Mrs. Weasley stepped out of the floo, she saw a sight no mother ever wanted to see. Her eyes locked onto Ginny's immediately as she stepped out of the floo. It took a few seconds for her brain to complete the facts to the images she was receiving. Her daughter was having sex, right on the dining room table. The man's blond hair and much larger body took a few more seconds for her brain to compute. It was only about 5 seconds later that she realized the full scope of what she was seeing. Ginny was having sex with a man that wasn't Harry.

That's when the shouting started.

"Ginevra Molly Weasley! What are you doing with that man?"

"What does it look like I'm doing mother! I was having quite enjoyable sex" Ginny was quick to untangle herself and get to her famous pose. She was not in the least daunted by her mother having caught her. It was more her mother treating her like a child that bothered her.

"What if Harry found out Ginny, you could ruin everything. Quickly, get him out of here before Harry comes home. None of us will tell him." Molly had already started shooing Arthur and the boys to the door as she started making decisions on how to fix everything. She really didn't want Harry to find out about this. Ginny would never find a man quite like him. He was such a good boy.

Ginny however was having none of it. "So what if he does find out. It's not like we're married yet, and you know what he's like. I've been sleeping around for over a year and he's never even had a clue. Even if he did, he'd probably just forgive me anyway."

It was at that moment that she realized something important.

With narrowed eyes at her family, of which the men were all still averting their eyes, and Molly standing next to an open mouthed gob-smacked Hermione she asked the question she should have asked first.

"Wait, what the bloody hell are you all doing here anyway?"

It was into this scene that the floo flashed green again and Bill and Fleur stepped into the dining room. Bill was about to make his greetings when he looked up and saw his sister, naked, with an equally naked man hiding right behind her. His greeting got caught in his throat as he gaped at the awkward scene they had walked into. He was in such shock that the he jumped about a foot as the dining room door slammed open with a crash.

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Harry Potter was having a good day. He had managed to get the rest of his training day cancelled due to his pending party that evening. Sometimes it pays to be famous. He had stopped in muggle London where picked up the ring he had made for Ginny. It was perfect for her he thought. A simple solitaire ring with a brilliant cut of diamond. It was beautiful. He made a quick stop in Diagon Alley to have the ring enchanted to auto-size, and be charmed to be impervious to damage. He made one last stop to pick up the new Thunderbolt Broom he had ordered for her. It was the very first one off the factory floor.

With that done, he made his way to the apparition spot so he could head home. He should even be in time to help the Weasleys set up the decorations for the surprise party he had planned for Ginny for their anniversary. It was difficult lying to her, it always made him feel guilty, but telling her he would be away for an overnight Auror training exercise was the perfect excuse to throw her off the scent.

He took a deep breath as he materialized under the tree in his backyard. He still hated apparating, especially as he had been practicing doing it quietly as required by his training. He made his way towards the back door. As he was about to enter, he heard some shouting coming from inside. He figured it sounded like Mrs. Weasley but he wasn't quite sure, so he slipped his wand into his hand, silenced his feet, disillusioned himself and slowly stepped into the house. He quietly made his way through the house, following the shouting, of which he could now make out the words.

 _"…found out Ginny, you could ruin everything. Quickly, get him out of here before Harry comes home. None of us will tell him."_

That didn't sound good, and the thought of what exactly was happening was all that made him stop outside the door without going in.

It didn't take long for him to put the facts together from what he was hearing. Ginny had been cheating on him for over a year. She had been playing on his naiveté. Mrs. Weasley was happy to keep him in the dark about it so long as he married Ginny. He want from angry, to sad, to furious to heartbroken to despair all so quickly he wasn't sure what he should be feeling right then and there. He finally settled on a cold furious resignation. It was as he heard the floo roar again that he slammed the door open the rest of the way.

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Hermione was in complete shock with everything she had been hearing. She was frozen, mouth hanging open as she heard the two Weasley woman shouting at each other. She almost didn't even react when she heard that Ginny had been cheating for so long, when she heard that Molly wanted them all to keep it a secret. That was almost worse in her opinion. It was only when Bill and Fleur came in that she managed to get control of herself, and was about to tear in to the two Weasley woman. As she opened her mouth to start her verbal slap down, the dining room door slammed open, causing her to jump and twist to face it.

To face the cold and furious gaze of Harry Potter. His entrance caused everyone to immediately fall silent. It was quiet as a grave as everyone focused on the obviously very insensed Harry.

Hermione had never seen him this angry. He looked like he was almost shaking with suppressed rage. She started slowly moving her hand towards her wand, just in case she needed to cast a shield if he lost control. His reaction at first surprised her. In a quiet, cold dangerous voice he quietly demanded, "Everyone, get out of my house."

He hadn't shouted, but it had almost the same effect. She knew she needed to help her best friend, but at the same time. That voice scared her. She would started to turn to leave hoping everyone would follow suite. Unfortunately they did exactly the wrong thing.

Mrs. Weasley and Ginny's voice almost sounded as one as they clashed to be heard first.

"Harry dear, what are you doing home," Ginny asked as if she hadn't just been caught cheating.

"Harry, we can explain, it isn't what it looks like." Molly was almost pleading as she tried to maneuver herself to block his sight with Ginny and Cormac, who was still hiding.

Hermione knew exactly what was coming and was still caught off guard.

"I SAID EVERYONE GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Harry roared.

She cringed as she heard the anger in his voice, but it was the crackling in the air that really got her attention. The room started becoming extremely warm, as the air crackled like in an electric storm. If she wasn't terrified of the house coming down on them, she would have found the mass evacuation of everyone humorous. As it is. Everyone running into the floo or out the door was quiet chaotic.

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Harry was on his 5th scotch as he finished telling his story. Sergeant Major Donaldson had been quietly sipping his second next to the troubled young man, not saying a thing during the whole story.

"So that's what happened. I quit my job. Put my house in storage. Came to the airport and bought a ticket on the next available flight. Which just happened to be Paris." Harry was starting to feel his alcohol, but at least he wasn't angry anymore.

"So what are you going to do when you get to Paris?"

It was a reasonable question. The only problem was there wasn't a reasonable answer.

"I have no idea. I just want to get away. Go be on my own. Do some sightseeing. Maybe join a volunteer expedition somewhere. I'll know when I get there." Harry's plans didn't include anything other then getting away from the wizarding world. He knew some people would be upset, but he at least knew he would be away from people that were always using him or hurting him.

His musings were interrupted by the next question.

"I have a suggestion if you'd like to hear it." The Sergeant Major asked him quietly.

The words that he heard next would be the cause of much rejoicing and hatred over the years to come.

"What do you know about the French Foreign Legion"


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** **So this is chapter two. Thank you for all the favorites and follows, I greatly appreciate it. This chapter is quite quick. I didn't want to go into too much detail with the Legion as yet. There is a lot of info to get through before the plot can start coming together. I hope this is alright.**

 **Let me know what you think**

 **Chapter 2**

Hermione was angry.

She was beyond angry.

She was pacing in the back yard thinking about what she had just witnessed, one hand tugging on her, now much longer, curly brown hair, the bushiness being negated due to the length, and probably some growing up on her part too if she was honest, her other hand was gripped around her wand tightly, knuckles white from the grip. Every now and then whilst she paced, a small grubby garden gnome would pop out from between some of the bushes, and with only a flick, they would be banished by Hermione's wand, and the "Wheeeeeeeeee" of the gnome flying through the air, was only accompanied by the sounds of other gnomes giggling in the bush and her frantic footsteps on the dirt path.

She knew she had not spent as much time with Harry lately as she used to. Things had just been so busy. She had been working hard at the new independent magical research company that had started up, and Harry had been doing his Auror training. She also understood why he refused to just accept the Auror position and go through the full 3 years with the other candidates. He didn't want special treatment, and she understood that. Because even though they hadn't spent as much time together lately, he was still her best friend.

And now he thought that she had tried to excuse what Ginny had done. She just stood there saying nothing. Her shock at what she had witnessed had struck her dumb. But she was after all a thinker, not a doer, and now after spending more then a few minutes thinking she had started to put together all the facts, and the picture wasn't pretty.

To be fair she wasn't sure how the other Weasleys felt about what they had seen, well except for Mrs. Weasley. She had made her feelings perfectly clear. As long as Harry didn't know it wouldn't hurt him. She flicked a nearby gnome a little more forcefully at that thought causing him to land in the pond next door.

None of the rest of the family had said anything when they got back home. Mr. Weasley had gone straight to his shed, no doubt to hide his head in the sand. Bill and Fleur had not even come to the Burrow after the hasty departure. She was sure they made a quick getaway whilst the getting was good.

George had only stayed long enough to grab some sandwiches before he left back for WWW. Ron was in the kitchen stuffing his face, whilst Mrs. Weasley was puttering in the kitchen muttering about "that poor boy".

Her deep thought was broken by the sound of all the garden gnomes scattering in all directions, the sight made her eyebrow raise and she pondered that strange behavior, but the reason was soon coming as she saw Ron approaching her slowly as if approaching a bomb.

He didn't seem to be bothered by anything at all, judging by his facial expression and the sandwich he was still eating as he approached.

She stopped her pacing and turn her full glare on him.

"Hello?"

"Hello? Hello Ron! Is that it! You just saw your sister, cheating on your best friend and she admits to doing it more than once, and your mother tried to cover it up. Your so called best friend was so devastated as to cause accidental magic, and you come out here with stuffed to the gills with food. And all you can say is hello? Bloody hell Ronald Weasley!"

During her tirade she didn't even notice him slowly walking backwards with his hands raised as if to fend her off.

"Hermy, you know I'm not good with these kind of things. Let them sort it out. I-I don't want to get involved. Harry can fix things, you know he's good at that." He was probably not quite looking at her as well as he should as he said that.

Hermione's face was getting red and her lips were almost snow white due to how pursed they were as he spoke. She was just getting angrier the more he spoke. She wondered briefly if that's why he ate so much. So that he didn't get in trouble by actually saying anything. That thought aside, she nearly exploded in response.

"Do. Not. Call. Me. Hermy." She emphasized by giving him a poke on the chest with each word. "Harry is supposed to be your best friend, and he has just had a major upset, and you don't want to get involved. That's just perfect Ron."

"Well it's no use shouting at me!" Ron started getting a little braver as he started shouting back. It wasn't his fault after all. "I didn't do anything"

"Well that's just it Ron, you didn't do anything. And it doesn't sound like you plan to do anything. You know, I- I need to go. I need to think right now and you're not helping." She had started turning around as she finished talking, only to be interrupted by his parting words.

"Yeah, I'll just stay here whilst you go off and think, it's what you do best after all."

The last words were muttered under his breath but she still heard them, and it was like one final hammer blow to the heart.

She had seen her best friend get desperately hurt, and now her boyfriend had metaphorically kicked her in the gut.

She didn't even turn around. She took a few steps forward across the wards, and apparated to her apartment.

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Harry Potter was sitting in a large hall along with 20 other men of varying nationalities, waiting to complete their registration.

He wasn't quite sure how everything had happened and how he had gotten here. It had all gone quite fast. He was sitting in thought trying to piece together everything that led to sitting in this room.

He met Sergeant Major Donald's. They sat in the bar drinking some scotch and he remembered telling him about why he had left home. There were the magic words of course. French Foreign Legion. He had never heard of them but the brief description he had received had been enough to catch his attention. The Sergeant Major had somehow managed to convince the Flight hostess that they needed to sit together on the plane. So he didn't get much detail. But it was enough. Join the Legion. If he was good enough they would be his brothers. They would support him, and he would support them. They would travel and see the world. They would help to save people. At this point he was already sold. But it was the last point that connived him beyond all doubt.

"Potter, the army, be it SAS, marines, navy or the Legion. It is like joining a family."

Family. That was word that made up his mind. He thought he could have had a family with Ginny. But now he would have a different kind of Family.

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Hermione had finally calmed down.

She had been furious, not only at Ginny for what she had done, but with most of the Weasleys as well. They all just seemed to ignore what had happened. She wouldn't ignore it. It had been about 5 hours and half a bottle of wine, since she had stormed off from the Burrow. She felt she was now calm enough to finally go back to Harrys place and see how he was doing. It was time to be there for him.

That decision made, she smoothed down her floral summer dress, wrapped the jumper over her shoulders and flooed to Potter Place.

Only to come tumbling out her fireplace again, having just spun around a few times before being aborted. That wasn't good, he had obviously closed the floo. With a frown and a quick shake of her head she left her apartment to the nearby apparition point and tried again.

She arrived in the back garden safely enough, and could see no signs to indicate anything was further wrong. It was only as she knocked and then opened the back door that she realized that there was more wrong then she thought.

The kitchen where she had entered was empty. Completely bare. All the cupboards still standing open from what was obviously a hasty departure. She would have thought the apartment was empty until she heard some footsteps in the sitting room. Making her way there she almost collided with someone, who got as big a fright as she did. It was the frightened squeak, and high pitched "Miss Granger" that clued her in to who she had almost collided with.

Looking down confirmed that.

"Winkey? What are you doing here? You don't work for Harry do you?" She gave a glance around hoping to see said, Harry, only to be met by another empty room. Well, empty except for the house elf she had just bumped into.

"Winkey is working for Elvens Storage and Removal, Miss. We is packing up Mr. Potter's house for storage."

The small house elf seemed to be genuinely excited to be packing up the furniture.

"Do you know where Harry is Winky?"

"I's don't Miss Granger. Mr. Potter only gave Winkey instructions, then Mr. Potter left."

That was not at all what Hermione wanted to hear. She really needed to find him.

With that thought in mind, she gave a hasty, "Thanks Winkey, Bye Winkey." Before rushing out to go to the Diagon Alley post office so that she could send Harry a letter.

She made quick work getting through the crowds, giving a halfhearted hasty greeting to the few people who waved at her as she past. Getting to the post office, she scrawled a brief note asking after Harry's well-being and location, before handing it over along with a few Knuts to the Postal agent. She watched him attach the note to the barn owl, and watched as the owl gave a few flaps out the open owl door.

Only for the owl to give a brief circle in midair, and then come straight back into the Post office, landing in front of the agent.

"I'm sorry Miss, the recipient seems to unable to receive mail for some reason."

That was not good. Hermione was at a loss.

She slowly made her way back through Diagon Alley and through into muggle London, thinking hard what else she could do.

"Where are you, Harry." She whispered to herself.

Not noticing the Aircraft high in the sky passing over London heading to France, and new adventures.

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It had been a grueling week. 7 days of pure torture. Harry had quickly made a friend to endure the torture along with him. Together they trudged through the very gates of hell. They had survived the first week of joining the Foreign Legion. Together they survived 7 days of testing and administration.

They had been poked, prodded, interviewed, done medical check-ups, signed documents… It was torture.

That was where he met his new friend.

It was an odd meeting.

 _Harry had been in and out of offices, interrogation rooms, conference rooms and clinical offices all day. He was so lost, if it wasn't for the aid leading him all over the place, he would have given up already. He had been briefed, been x-rayed, interviewed, been weighed, urinated into more than one cup and had blood drawn._

 _He was now standing in a large room with a Doctor. A female Doctor. And she had just told him to get naked._

 _Now he had always been a bit wary of his naked body. Even living in a dorm room he had been cautious to only use the washing facilities when no one else could see him. The only person who had seen him naked that he could remember had been Ginny, and her first reaction of cringing when she had seen all the scars crossing his back, had not filled him with confidence. Now here was a strange woman, even a mildly pretty one at that, telling him to take off his clothes. Naturally he hesitated._

 _It was at this point that another man was led in by a Nurse and told to get himself naked too. Harry was not impressed. He spent a few seconds looking through his longer hair surreptitiously. The man was of average height, but he look quite muscular. He had long black hair and sky-blue eyes that almost looked white. And without a second thought the man started undressing, and whilst he was doing that he started talking._

 _"Hey man. Why you still got your clothes on. We don't got all day. These fine ladies are in a hurry." He did not seem to be bothered at all, to be talking to another man, and in front of two woman, whilst divesting himself of his clothes. He was naked so fast, Harry almost thought it was magic._

 _Harry made a glance at the two woman who were not paying any attention at all as they were busy talking whilst pointing out things on a clipboard. Without knowing what to say, Harry started to slowly take off his shoes and socks. He barely had his left sock off when he heard two 'clicks' of someone snapping their fingers._

 _"Come now Potter, it's not something we haven't seen before and we don't have all day." The Nurse that snapped her fingers said in a no-nonsense way. The Doctor just watched him expressionlessly, while the other chap standing naked as the day he was born was standing with his arms crossed, an impudent grin on his face watching Harry._

 _Knowing there was no other option, he started getting undressed. Not able to help the blush on his face and neck. Once he was finally naked and trying to cover himself with his hands, the Doctor and Nurse started their checks. He was pulled around, arms pulled up. Hands were checked. He had to bend and twist. Touch his toes, and all manner of otherwise embarrassing things. They didn't even make a sound when they saw the damage to his back._

 _It was as he was finished and getting dressed again that he heard the chap with him speak again._

 _"I'm Running-with-eyes-closed. But you can call me Hayes" He had a grin as he said that, his eyes dancing with mirth._

 _"I'm Potter." My reply was still quiet due to my embarrassment._

 _"Well Potter. We've seen each other naked. I guess that means we friends" He was still naked as he held a hand out to shake._

 _After a brief glance at him, a quick look away upon realizing his state of undress, and then a glance at the hand, there was nothing else to do. I Shook it._

 _"Friends it is."_

O-O-O-O-O-O- O-O-O-O-O

"Good morning ladies. Welcome to the Farm! I am going to be making men out of you. You may call me Sergeant or Sir. Today we will be starting your 6 weeks of Initial training. I will not lie to you. Most of you men will not make it. This is the most brutal training you will ever experience. If at any point you feel you cannot continue and wish to give up. You can go the square, and ring the bell. At that point you will be picked up, and taken to do your debriefing before being discharged. Is everybody ready for the torture, I mean training to commence?" The large man standing in front of the lines of recruits looked like a brick wall. He was easily 2meters tall, and weighed about 120kg of pure muscle. Even without his rousing speech he was intimidating.

And that was how it started.

O-O-O-O-O-O- O-O-O-O-O

That was all the warning Harry had before the wake-sirens started going off the in room, followed by all 44 men in the room jumping out of bed and grabbing their clothes to get ready.

This was how everyday had gone since they had started their 6 week initial training. Already 12 men had either left of their own accord, or had been forced to leave due to injury. It was now week 4 and Harry didn't even feel any pain anymore. His blisters had stopped even trying to close up. His hands were still raw from the rock climbing they'd been doing. His back was aching from the 35kg backpacks they'd been carrying around since day 1. He was beyond the point of being tired. He along with the other men were dead on their feet, but they just kept pushing. And he loved every minute of it.

The man were like a family. No one was left behind. Everyone was pushed together. It was brilliant.

O-O-O-O-O-O- O-O-O-O-O

Harry and Hayes had become close over the time they had been training together. Harry had found out that Hayes was actually a Native-American. His family descended from the Sioux tribe and had become horse ranchers in America. He had left home after he beat a neighbor, who was trying to rape his sister, near to death. He left to preserve the families honor and business. Harry had shared some minor details about his own home life. Explaining that he had left after catching his wife cheating on him. One of the rules was that no one asked too many questions. Everyone's past was their own. There were often times where they had to push each other. Harry seemed to be better at the climbing, shooting and pure determination, whereas Hayes could run further, was stronger and could sneak near silently. Hayes had also been showing Harry how to meditate. They spent many nights over the weeks in meditation. Harry was finally learning how to control his emotions. Even if it wasn't an accurate form of Occlumency as taught by the Auror corps, this form of meditation, along with the occumency training he had already done easily bolstered his mental defenses.

Tomorrow they would be starting their March Raid Marche. They had to do a 120km march in 3 days. No one was looking forward to it. But after completing all their training and receiving their Elementary Technical Certificates, this was the last test for them. At this point the remaining 26 recruits who remained were a brotherhood. They were family and would push themselves through the march.

O-O-O-O-O-O- O-O-O-O-O

It had been just over a year since they had joined the Legion.

Potter and Hayes had been partners since the first day. They had passed training together. Had gone out and gotten wasted together, and they had gotten their Legion tattoos together. Today they were being promoted together. They had just come back from assisting with an uprising in North Africa. They had only gone to assist in keeping the peace, but ended up in the middle of a 3 week battle in the city. It only ended when the Leader of the rebel forces had been taken out during the last charge by the Legion soldiers upon accidently stumbling across their Operational Headquarters. Harry had taken a bullet in the back, just below his left shoulder and Hayes had only been hit by some shrapnel. Otherwise they only lost one of their brothers in the fighting.

They had only just returned to France after their discharge from Hospital 3 days ago.

Today Harry had been ordered to Legion Headquarters in Paris.

"Good Morning Corporal Potter. I am Major DuPont, I'm sure you might remember Sergeant Major Donaldson, I believe you've met before."

To say that Harry was surprised when the two men, one of which he had met before, walked in would be an understatement. He knew that Sergeant Major Donaldson was a recruitment officer for the SAS in England. It was a bit surprising to see him here, along with the head of the recruiting office for the Foreign Legion. They all exchanged greetings and took seats around the conference table to begin the briefing.

"I'm sure you're wondering why you've been called to see us today." The grin on the Sergeant Majors face matched the grin from Major DuPont. It seemed they were quite excited about something.

Without giving any form of response, Harry just quietly watched the two officers.

"Well, I will get right to it then." The lack of response from Harry seemed to cause his grin to dim a bit.

"As I told you before. I am a recruitment officer for the SAS, but I don't do the normal kind of recruiting that you might think. I recruit special people from all the military services in the I.C.W states."

If he was expecting some kind of reaction from that revelation, he got it.

Harry twitched so hard he bumped his knee against the desk.

"I'm sorry. I.C.W? I'm not sure I'm following you, Sergeant Major." The tenseness in Harry's voice carried over into the polite response.

"Well yes of course. The International Confederation of Wizards. We know you're a wizard Corporal Potter."

That didn't get as much of a reaction as the first bomb that was dropped. However to the keen observer, they might have seen Harrys jaw clench. The veins standing out on his now well muscles arms as he clenched the arm rests of the chair.

"And what exactly do you want with me Sergeant Major." His voice was deadly calm, and Major DuPont for the first time in a long time was a little worried about how this conversation would go. He was also wondering where the breeze was coming from, as the windows were all closed.

"Uh, Corporal Potter. Nothing to get upset about. I think if you let me explain, you'll understand better. I promise." Sergeant Major Donaldson was wondering if he had approached this situation the wrong way. He could see the man sitting across from him was a killer. He had read the reports, and knew his past. He had effectively taken a very accomplished Wizard who had killed a very dangerous and almost undefeatable dark lord. He had an immense amount of magical power, and turned him into a soldier who could kill as easily with magic as without. Now he seemed to be quite upset, borderline angry.

"You see, although I recruit for the SAS, I only recruit soldiers from muggle military organizations that exist in the ICW state areas. We offer the soldiers a chance to try out for selection with the SAS. After they have passed selection, trained, and then worked with them for an amount of time, they will then be trained in MMA, Uh that is Magical Military Arts. Thereafter they join our Elite, Magical Special Forces."

It took Harry a few minutes to think all that through. He could join the SAS. He had heard a lot about the SAS from some SAS soldiers he had met in Somalia. They were reported to be some of the best in the world. The SAS selection process was so tough that people had died in the past, and they only had a 10% pass rate for the recruits. It was an interesting proposition. But there was one thing that bugged him.

"I have been offered French citizenship by 'Français par le sang versé' (French by spilled blood). So who will I be working for if I train with the British SAS then the MMA? I don't have any desire to work for the ICW or even the British Wizarding world." He had left that life behind, and although he had not heard any news from anyone back home in the year he had been gone. He had no desire at this time to return and work for the Wizangamot again. He didn't regret leaving the Auror forces at all.

"The MMA is not affiliated with the Wizarding world, nor with the ICW. They started as a branch off the SAS, but now report directly to the Commander-in-Chief of the British Military. We reports directly to the Queen."

That was not a response he was expecting. Harry suppressed the urge to scratch his head in confusion.

"Since when did the Queen have a Magical Military? Why didn't they help us with Voldemort?"

The two Officers shared a glance at that. If they were honest they had been expecting that question.

"Well Mr. Potter, the Queen had been receiving updates from the Minister for Magic saying that everything had been handled. By the time she received intelligence stating otherwise, the MMA were split between taking out a group of Giants that had entered England, a renegade dragon Voldemort tried to bring into the country and stopping a muggle terrorist uprising in London. By the time the forces were able to assist with Voldemort, you had already done it."

That explanation did seem to make sense. It also explained to Harry why there weren't more giants or dangerous creatures involved in the final battle. There were certainly less than he had expected judging by how much time Voldemort had to gather them.

"So I will be joining a muggle/magical special forces team managed directly by the queen."

Upon seeing their nods and sounds of assent, there was only one more question.

"When do I start?"


End file.
